Massive gas line fire in Orion Township burns itself out

A massive gas line fire that broke out Monday evening in Orion Township has burned itself out, according to a spokesperson from Consumers Energy.

"We had a rupture of a 22-inch diameter steel gas transmission line," said Roger Morgenstern, spokesperson for Consumers Energy. "The cause of the rupture is not known at this time. ... The fire was reported about 10 p.m. and by 11:40 p.m. it had burned itself out."

Morgenstern said there was no interruption of service to customers in the areas because of the fire. Consumers Energy is working with local officials to determine the cause.

Auburn Hills police report that residents in the area, who were under evacuation orders earlier in the night, can now return to their homes.

UPDATE: Mandatory evacuations are no longer ordered. Bystanders and the public are asked to avoid the area but if you live in the area you can return home. https://t.co/xac2Me9gTF

The fire has also affected a 911 trunk line for the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, as of 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. In an email, captain Mel Maier of the sheriff’s operations center said:

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office – Operations Center (911) is working on restoring full phone services, however due to the explosion and fire many Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) including the Sheriff’s Office are experiencing intermittent issues with telephone services and 13 dispatch centers countywide were impacted. This includes Farmington Hills, Novi, and Troy Police Departments. This was not due to heavy 911 call volumes as has been reported, but is directly related to the explosion and severity of the fire in Orion Township effecting telephone users. 911 calls are being directed to an alternate/backup PSAP – however the below listed lines are still operating without impairment and may be used as an alternative to 911 calls:

Text to 911 is still in service and available. Reminder to use 911 in the TO: field.

In addition to 248-858-4930 the following temporary phone lines are operational to reach Sheriff’s dispatch at this time:

248-454-0562

248-454-0564

248-454-0565

248-454-0454

248-454-0531

248-454-0532

248-454-3431

Communications support teams are updating call routing and telecommunications servers to restore full functionality. Emergency calls are still being answered and services are still being dispatched during this time. Once the system is fully restored we will send a new notification out to the press as well via Sheriff’s Office social media.